Secure enclosures, such as safes, strongrooms, and vaults, are typically used to store valuable items. One particular application of secure enclosures is to house valuable components of an automated teller machine (ATM), such as a cash dispenser, a cash acceptance module, and the like. The value of such components is principally derived from the large amounts of cash stored within them.
Secure enclosures provided in ATMs (hereinafter “ATM safes”) differ from conventional safes in that ATM safes include apertures. These apertures may be in the form of (i) slots through which media items (such as banknotes) enter and exit a cash dispenser/recycler in the ATM safe, and (ii) holes through which control cables pass from the cash dispenser/recycler to an ATM controller.
ATM safes are designed to resist attack from many different types of tools, such as sledgehammers, power drills, and thermal cutting tools. One common attack involves driving a wedge between a door and a sidewall of an ATM safe to release the safe door.
It is also becoming increasingly common for ATM safes to be subjected to attacks from explosives, such as plastic explosives, or explosive gas (for example, oxyacetylene or butane gas). In a typical attack, an ATM aperture is created or accessed, for example by drilling or cutting through a thin shutter covering an existing aperture, such as a cash dispense slot. The explosive substance (solid or gas) is inserted into the ATM through this aperture then detonated. This causes the safe sidewalls to deflect outwards, thereby releasing the door, which is blown off its hinges by the explosion.
ATM safes can be designed to withstand explosive attacks by strengthening the ATM safe door and the internal corners of the ATM safe. However, explosion-resistant ATM safes typically cost several times the price of a similar safe which does not resist an explosive attack.
It would be advantageous to be able to provide a low-cost safe that is resistant to both conventional wedge attacks and attacks using explosives.